This invention relates to a container lifting and dumping apparatus which is particularly suitable for use in the citrus industry.
In the citrus industry oranges, grapefruit, and the like are picked from trees and placed in a container near the tree. When the container is filled, it may either be emptied into a larger container carried by a truck at the picking site or the container may be transported to the edge of the grove where it is emptied into a large semi-trailer truck body or the like. Two types of apparatus for emptying the contents of the container into the container body of a truck at the picking site are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,981,424 and 3,618,800.
The apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,424 requires the use of baskets having a hinged bottom. However, since containers without hinged bottoms are frequently used in citrus groves, it is desirable to provide an apparatus for emptying the contents of these containers.
The apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,800 includes a lift bar which is lowered across the container and a clamping assembly on each end of the bar which is movable into engagement with the container on opposite sides thereof. The apparatus shown in this patent was described in conjunction with a wooden pallet box, but this apparatus as well as other pick-up assemblies available in the citrus industry can be used with frusto-conical tubs. The advantage of such tubs is that empty tubs can be stacked by nesting the tubs. Such tubs generally include an outwardly extending upper rim or flange which is engageable with the clamping assemblies of the pick-up assembly.
The problem with such pick-up assemblies is that the clamping assemblies engage the circular periphery of the tub at diametrically opposed locations. The operator of the lift device sometimes experiences difficulty in centering the clamping assemblies with respect to the tub, and the clamping assemblies frequently squeeze the tub excessively and cause permanent deformation or damage to the tub.